Method of casting steel



(No Model.)

F. K. HAPFEY.

METHOD OF CASTING STEEL. No. 304,314. Patented Sept. 2, 1884.

N PETERS. PMQo-Liihagnphor. Washington. o.c.

UNITED STATES ATENT Fries.

FRANCIS K HAFFEY, OF ALLEGHENY, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF CASTING STEEL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 304,314, datedSeptember 2, 1884.

Application filed January 12, 1884.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS K. HAFFEY, of Allegheny, in the county ofAllegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Casting Steel 5 and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to an improved method of casting steel and othermetals, whereby ingots are produced free from pipes, honeycomb, or likeimperfections, which are commonly due to the presence of air-bubbles andforeign matter in the molten metal in the mold, and also whereby cuttingof the mold in casting is prevented.

In casting steel into ingot-molds as commonly practiced, the steel,being conveyed from the furnace or crucible in ladles, is pouredtherefrom directly into the mold. As the stream of molten metal fallingfrom the top of the mold strikes the bottom thereof bubbles of air arecarried below the surface of the metal in the mold, and airspaces, or,as it is called, honey-comb, formed in the in gots. Pipes are alsoformed in the ingot from the same cause and by the currents caused bythe stream of metal, and other imperfections are caused from dirt andforeign matter entering the mold with the molten steel. Anotherdifficulty encountered in the present method of casting steel ingots isthe cutting of the mold by the stream of metal striking at one point onthe bottom, and also when the metal strikes the side of the mold. Fromthis cause the molds are soon rendered worthless, involving greatexpense and trouble. By my improved method the steel is cast into themold Without producing honeycomb, pip es, or other imperfection in theingot, and at the same time injury to the mold by cutting is prevented.

I will now describe my invention so that others skilled in the art mayemploy the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing,forming part of this specification, which is a side elevation, partly insection, of the apparatus employed by me.

Instead of casting the metal directly from the ladle into the bottom ofthe mold, I employ an intervening strainer, formed of plum- (No model.)

bago or other heat-resisting material, which separates pieces of foreignmatter from the metal, prevents the metal from striking the mold insolid streams, and distributes it evenly in the mold, so thatair-bubbles are not carried beneath the surface of the metal, saidperforated receptacle being gradually raised as the molten metal risesin the mold, whereby the splash of the metal, cutting of the mold, andformation of blow-holes in the casting are avoided.

The form of strainer or receiving dish which I prefer to use is thatshown in the drawing, it being a rectangular vessel formed of plumbagoor other heat-resisting material, the rim of which corresponds in shapeto the mouth of the mold, while the sides are sloping, so as to leave aspace between the bottom of the dish and the sides of the mold. In thebottom of this dish are rows of holes or perforations 1), sufficientlylarge to allow the free passage of the molten metal. Inside of the disha, a little above and removed from the bottom thereof, is a falsebottom, 0, having rows of openings or perforations d, which are morenumerous and smaller in size than the perforations in the bottom of thedish. Around the rim of the dish a is a band of metal, e, from whichextend the rods f, which serve as handles, by means of which the dishmay be lowered into the mold-and raised therefrom; or other suitabledevices may be employed for the same purpose.

The operationof casting ingots by my improved method is as follows: Themold having been prepared in the usual manner for the reception of themolten steel, the vessel a is lowered to the bottom of the mold. Themolten steel is then poured from the ladle into the dish, where,striking the false bottom 0, it covers the same and flows through theperforations d to the bottom of the dish, and thence through theperforations b, so that it is evenly distributed over the bottom of themold in finely-divided streams. As the metal fills the mold g the dishis gradually raised, so as to keep the bottom thereof even with thesurface of the metal. As the metal passes through the perforations inthe dish any foreign matter or dirt is deposited and prevented fromentering the mold; also, as the metal is divided into numerous smallstreams, and as the bottom of the vessel (0 is kept on or below thesurface of the metal during the casting operation, cutting of the moldis prevented, and as the metal is evenly distributed without agitationand boiling, air-bubbles and pipes are prevented.

Although I have described my invention as adapted for the purpose ofcasting steel ingots, itmay be employed in forming other castings in alike manner and for a like purpose.

I am aware that it is not new in casting i11 gots to pour the moltenmetal through a perforated strainer which is situate at the top or mouthof the mold, and also that it is not new to introduce the metal in asingle stream at the surface of the metal in the mold, and I do notdesire to claim the same.

The advantages of my invention are that the boiling occasioned by alarge single stream of molten metal entering the molten metal in themold, (whether the stream be introduced at the surface of the metal ornot,) and the agitation caused by the penetration of numerous smallstreams falling from the top of the mold, are prevented, producingingots free from airbubbles or honey-comb and pipes, and without injuryto the mold.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent,

1. The herein-described method of casting metals, which consists inpouring the molten metal in a mass of fine streams delivered near thebottom of the mold and keeping the point of their formation near thesurface of the metal during the casting operation, substantially asdescribed.

2. The herein-described method of casting metals, which consists inpassing the molten metal through two screening devices of differentmesh, the perforations in the first screen be ing smaller and morenumerous than those in the final screen, keeping the vessel inorimmediately over the surface of the metal during the casting operation,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 3d day of January,A. D. 1884.

FRANCIS K. HAFFEY.

Witnesses:

W. B. CORWIN, JAMES K. BAKEVVELL.

